New Kids On The Block Revisited
by Dash-Rendar
Summary: Rewrite of an old story which I took down . Phoenix Spitfire is a new kid on the block in Jump City, where he will soon find some interesting friends. AU with a tie in to the original Titans in later chapters. Rated T for mild language and some later hinted sexual situations.
1. Home Sweet New Home

A/N: Hey guys! I had written this story a while ago with an ex-friend from the site. I went over the past chapters and decided I could do better. After clearing it with her, my friend gave me permission to use her old characters. This is the first chapter of the rewritten works and I hope you all enjoy! At this point, I have no time frame as to how often I will be posting chapters due to me being in university. I will post when I am able! Hope you guys enjoy

Teen Titans

New Kids on the Block

Chapter 1

Home Sweet New Home

The sun shone brightly in the clear September sky. White, fluffy clouds floated lazily along, pushed by a slight breeze. The last days of summer vacation were finally here, and many families were out together, soaking up that last little bit of sunshine for their tans, enjoying their last few days of unbridled freedom before returning to the daily grind of school and work. The air was filled with the sounds of grilling steaks, laughing children and singing birds.

The rumble of the U-Haul van was barely noticed by the summer patrons as it drove down the small paved road and pulled into the driveway of 247 Jefferson Avenue, the air brakes hissing loudly as it came to a stop. A small black Honda Civic came rolling up next to it and parked with much less noise.

Phoenix Spitfire sighed as he unfolded his six-foot frame out from the small car. He really didn't want to be here. Glancing at his father, who was climbing down from the U-Haul cab, he asked, "Tell me again why you thought it was a good idea to uproot your happy family from their happy lives and move to the middle of nowhere?"

Julian gave his son a reproachful glance. "We've been over this time and again Phoenix. I was given a promotion at work. The promotion involved me taking up the head of Jump City Police Department due to the Titans disbanding a few years ago." He grunted as he shoved the hatch of the truck open, revealing all of their furniture. "Besides, a change is as good as a rest." He lowered the ramp and began handing some of the smaller boxes to his son, who took them with a sigh. "Try and look at the bright side of this will you – please?"

Rolling his eyes and heading towards the house with an armful of boxes, Phoenix simply walked through the closed door as if it didn't exist, leaving his father grumbling loudly outside. He grinned and put the boxes down before unlocking the double oak doors and walked back outside.

"How many times do I have to tell you NOT to do that? You may have the ability of phasing through objects but that doesn't mean you have to do it every chance you get!" Julian snapped as he walked past. "How you got that ability from a girl who is barely even related to you is beyond me."

Grinning all the more, Phoenix grabbed some more small boxes and put them into the house in their proper rooms. One of the things he was most looking forward to was that this house had a sound studio in the upper loft. At least he'd be able to make music without disturbing anyone.

Before long, the whole truck was unloaded and Phoenix's mother, Chloe, had arrived and was beginning to re-organize everything into its proper place. Phoenix had finished unpacking his room, had set up the recording studio and was now playing guitar. His guitar – a custom black Fender Stratocaster with two humbuckers and copper hardware – was his life. His fingers flew effortlessly across the fretboard, hitting chords and riffs, bending strings for solos. He barely even noticed his father standing in the doorway until he spoke. "Hey, I need you to come with me to the U-Haul depot."

Phoenix jumped a little, his hand scraping the fretboard, making a loud noise. "Yeah, sure. Just gimme a minute to shut this down and I'll be right out." He began turning off his equipment and put the guitar back into a wall hanger. Popping into his room, he grabbed his car keys from the dresser and went out to the garage, where he found his father waiting. "Ready to go?" he asked, opening the garage door.

"Yeah, I guess," Phoenix said, not really caring. He'd rather be upstairs playing guitar and writing music, but his mother was still busy organizing the house. "Let's go." He climbed into his Civic and started it up, waiting for the U-Haul to move out of his way. His iPod turned on as he shifted the car into reverse. He drove along tapping the wheel in time with the various drum grooves. It was a fairly short drive and they got there without running into too much traffic.

He stopped at the depot and waited for his father to climb into the front seat next to him. No sooner had he done so did Phoenix do a fast 360 and pull back out onto the freeway. "PHOENIX!" his father snapped. "We've discussed this before."

"Yes Dad, I know," Phoenix snapped back. "Now you know how it feels to have something done to you that you don't like." He stared out the windshield and said nothing more to his father.

Julian sighed. "You'll be fine Phoenix. You make friends easily enough and school starts in a couple more days. You'll like it here, I know you will."

Phoenix merely grunted in reply as he took the turn back onto their street. Pulling into the garage, he shut off the car, grabbed his iPod and went back upstairs to the studio and shut the door with a loud thud.

Chloe looked up as her husband came into the kitchen. "Teenage angst kicking in?" she asked with a sympathetic smile. She put her towel down on the countertop and turned to look at him, leaning against the edge of the sink.

"You have no idea," Julian sighed as he sat down at the table. "I need a stiff one."

"You'll have to make a run to the store tomorrow for that then," Chloe said sheepishly as she showed him the empty bottle of rum they had left from the beginning of the move in. "I kinda finished it off."

Julian rolled his eyes. "Of course you did."

Meanwhile, Phoenix was playing away on the drum set they had brought – a white Yamaha Stage Custom. He made adjustments as he played, moving cymbals to a better position, raising the height of the hi-hats for a better sound, adjusting the tension of the double kick pedal. Before long, he had it set up in a way that flowed with his open-handed drumming style. His headphones were on and he was cranking his metal playlist that had artists like Disturbed, Pantera, Children of Bodom, and the Big Four of thrash – Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer. He was in the zone, and the beats just poured out of him like water from a burst tap.

The door to the studio opened and Julian came in and leaned up against the wall, waiting for his son to acknowledge his presence. When the headphones finally came off and the sticks were put down, he spoke. "It's 10:00 bud. Time to put a stop to it for tonight. Go get some sleep. We've got to get you registered for your courses tomorrow."

"Yeah, whatever," Phoenix said, running a hand through his sweaty black hair. "I'll see you in the morning." He moved past his father and went into the bathroom to do his pre-bed routine.

Julian sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day and went into the master bathroom and got ready for bed as well. He too had a big ahead of him tomorrow – meeting his fellow officers. Chloe was already in bed, breathing softly, so he did his best to be quiet so as not to wake her.

Phoenix dug through a box in his room, attempting to find his alarm clock. After much effort, he finally found the beat up old clock and set it for 6:30 AM. Stripping off his clothes, he climbed into bed and shut off his lamp, wishing to be back at home… and his dreams took him there.


	2. New Friends and New Enemies

Teen Titans

New Kids On The Block

Chapter 2

New Friends and New Enemies

The first day of school had arrived, much to Phoenix's dismay. His alarm went off at the usual time of 6:30 and begrudgingly he rolled out of bed. Flipping through his closet, he found his outfit for the day – black jeans, his silver studded belt and a Green Day American Idiot t-shirt. He headed for the shower and climbed in gratefully, the hot water a nice way to start off his morning of despair and doom.

After his shower, he went downstairs to find his father, bleary-eyed and unshaven in his pajamas, slumped over on the kitchen table. "Morning P," he said groggily from his slumped over position.

"You don't look so hot Dad," Phoenix said bluntly. "Rough shift last night?"

"You have no idea," his father groaned. "Came home and wasn't able to get hardly any sleep. Thank goodness today is my day off!" Just then, the coffee maker finished gurgling and Julian rose slowly and ambled over to the cupboard, grabbed a coffee mug and poured himself a mug. Taking a big swig of the dark black liquid, his mood began to brighten a little with each sip.

Phoenix followed his father's example, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He sat down across from his father with a freshly toasted English muffin and began munching.

"So… first day of school," his father said after a sip of coffee. "You nervous?"

Phoenix gave him a look. "Yeah. That's totally it." He took a bite of his muffin and swallowed it with a mouthful of coffee. "You know what it is Dad. I'm the new kid on the block. No one is gonna talk to me, no one is going to act like I exist unless one of the teachers forces them to." He grunted.

"Aw come on Phoenix, give it a chance. You make friends quick enough. I'll bet you even make a friend by the end of the day." The clock chimed seven times quietly in the background. "Well, you better get going. Good luck!"

Phoenix finished his muffin, downed the rest of his coffee in a single gulp and grabbed his backpack from beside the garage door. He climbed into the Civic, backed out of the garage and started his drive to Jump City High School for a day filled with wonder, excitement and adventure… not.

His iPod was cranking his more mellow tunes – Coldplay, Goo Goo Dolls and Jamestown Story – as he drove along in silence. Just then, he noticed a girl walking down the street towards the school, a heavy backpack dangling from her hand. Pulling over, he rolled down the passenger side window and hollered, "You need a lift?"

"You the Spitfire kid?" she called back.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" he replied, stopping the car on the curb. The girl was tall, standing at around 5 foot 10 inches; so leaning down to talk to him was obviously an effort.

"Never seen you before, you have a backpack in the front seat and you're driving in the direction of the high school. I kinda put two and two together since your dad is my stepdad's boss," she explained. "I'm Rosalie Red and a drive would be greatly appreciated!" She opened the door, climbed in and tossed her bag in the back seat.

Phoenix blinked a couple times at how quickly she put trust in him, but drove on. "So your step dad works at the police department?" he asked, turning the music down a bit to make talking easier. He used his peripheral vision to get a better look at her. Raven black hair, silver hoop earrings, emerald green eyes, perfect teeth. No make-up, or very little if any. Therapist glasses, but no lenses, so it was purely cosmetic. Classy but casual style – black tank top worn under an open green blouse, dark skinny jeans.

"Mhm, Sergeant Xavier Red. He mentioned that the new Captain had a son about my age. Said he looked like a typical Mr. Dark and Mysterious." She wiggled her fingers to emphasize. "Thanks for the ride by the way. Unlike my sister, I missed the bus and Xavier is working a shift, and my mother refuses to drive us if we miss it. Teaches us responsibility or something." She shrugged.

"No problem," he said, making a turn onto another street. "Not like it was out of my way. But yeah… my name's Phoenix." He brought the car to a stop behind a beige Ford Focus and gave her a small half smile.

Rosalie smiled back. "Nice to officially meet you Phoenix. Who is your home room teacher?"

"Mr…" Phoenix trailed off, wracking his brain for the last name. "Jamison!" he exclaimed after a couple seconds. "Mr. Jamison!"

Rosalie laughed. "Looks like we'll have the same homeroom then. I'm with Jamison as well. You have him for math first period too?"

The cars finally started moving again. Phoenix replied, "Yeah, actually I do. That's the only course I can remember having today." He made a final turn and parked his car in the student parking lot behind the school. "At least I'll have one familiar face around today."

"Nah, I'll introduce you to some of my friends. I'll also show you who to avoid if you wanna get through your day in one piece." She grabbed her bag from the back and climbed out. "Come on. We got a few minutes before first bell. You can meet some of the gang." With a flip of her hair, she was headed towards the school, leaving Phoenix scrambling to catch up with her.

He caught up with her in the hallway and followed her quietly as she smiled and waved at people she knew. Just then, she stopped by a group of teens that was sitting in one of the various lounge areas around the school. A tall, bald black man wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt with dark blue eyes was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his broad chest. A thin black girl, whom Phoenix assumed was either his sister or his girlfriend, with a curly afro-style hairdo in ripped jeans and an off the shoulder tank top and brown eyes, was standing next to him.

Sitting on the leather sofa was a girl who looked nearly identical to Rosalie with the exception of fiery red hair and hazel eyes, and she had a slight blonde haired boy with brown eyes and a skater punk style curled up next to her, his head resting on her shoulder.

"Hey guys," Rosalie greeted them with a smile. "Sorry I'm late. Missed the bus after staying up too late reading and then slept in a bit longer than normal…" She indicated Phoenix. "Captain Spitfire's son Phoenix gave me a lift here, being the nice guy that he is."

Phoenix half smiled and said, "No big deal."

Rosalie indicated each person as she introduced him or her. "This is Tony and Elisa Stone," – she indicated the two black teens – "my sister Rosemary," – Phoenix's guess being proven correct here – "and her boyfriend Chad Logan."

Each person voiced a hello. Just then, the bell rang. "Well, we'll catch up with you guys at recess," Rosalie said as she nodded her head down one of the hallways. "Come on Spitfire, we're down here."

Phoenix followed her, glad to have someone who knew where they were going. He walked into homeroom, sat down at the desk next to Rosalie and began glancing around the classroom. Posters for clubs and groups lined the walls, along with the stereotypical cheesy saying posters that every teacher put up. "Shoot for the moon – even if you miss you'll land among the stars" kinda cheesy.

Just then, he was brought back to the present by a scraping of the desk next to him. Rosalie was scooting a bit closer to him, away from the dark haired jock who sat down at the adjacent desk.

"Hey Rose, long time no see," the boy said, his voice oozing with malice. "Ready for round two?"

"Just shut up Rob," she snapped back at him, glancing at Phoenix. "I told you to stay the hell away from me and I mean it!"

"Aw, whatssamatta?" He slurred the words together as he grinned a twisted grin. "Was I too rough for you?" He pouted and said in a baby voice, "Poor muffin."

"Hey, shut up pal. She wants to be left alone, can't you see that?" Phoenix growled from the other side of her. "Go pick on someone with a similar IQ."

Rob stopped dead and glared at him. "What did you say to me, punk?" His gray eyes flashed as he rose from his desk.

"You heard me," Phoenix replied, still seated at his desk. "You're a thick headed moron who obviously has self-esteem issues if he's picking on women."

"Why I oughta…"

"Oughta what Mr. Grayson?" came a voice from the doorway. Rob whipped around to see Mr. Jamison standing behind him, arms folded across his chest. "Move to a desk in the front of the classroom so I can keep an eye on you? That's a splendid idea. I suggest you do so now."

Rob grimaced as he moved his things and glared at Phoenix with a look that clearly said 'You're dead meat kid… just give me the chance.' Phoenix smiled like an idiot and waved as he watched him walk to the front of the class. "Mr. Spitfire, you're not helping matters," Mr. Jamison said coolly as he sat down at his desk and began ruffling through some papers. The grin disappeared as quickly as it came.

"Now then, most of you should know me but for those who do not, I am Mr. Jamison. I'll be your homeroom, and for most of you, Math 11, teacher this year. Rather than bore you all with the details of it, just take these papers home and have 'em signed by your parents and/or guardian and bring em back." He began walking around, handing out a small stack of regular school forms. "Since most of you don't know our newcomer, I figure I'll let him introduce himself." He indicated Phoenix. "Go ahead."

Phoenix raised his eyebrows but stood and began speaking. "Um… hi… I'm Phoenix Spitfire. My dad is the newest captain of the JCPD force. Nothing really special about me." He sat back down.

"Didn't you play in a band back in Steel City?" a girl called from a few desks over.

"Yeah, I did actually. Nothing too big name, but we had a few local gigs. We did play up here a few times during the summer. Iron Battle Cry. I was lead vocals and lead guitar."

"Oh yeah! I saw you guys a few times. You were actually pretty good!" a guy called from the middle of the class.

Phoenix smiled. "Thanks man."

Just then, the bell rang. "All right, time for first class!" Mr. Jamison said with a smile. "Off you go!"

Recess showed up and Phoenix met up with Rosalie and her gang at the cafeteria. They began chatting idly until suddenly a loud CRASH was heard behind them and a few shrieks and shouted complaints reached their ears.

Turning around, Phoenix saw Rob and a few other football players coming towards their group. Rob was looking really pissed off. "Hey Spitfire," he growled getting up into his face. "Looks like you didn't get the memo – don't piss off the quarterback of the high school football team."

Phoenix glared back at him and didn't budge an inch. "Looks like you didn't get the memo either – a girl tells you to get the hell away from her and you listen to her, especially when her stepdad is a police officer."

"Oh sure, pull the 'police' card. You gonna go run home to Daddy and tell him all about the big, mean, Robbie from school?" Rob said with a pathetic little kid impersonation. "Oh, I'm so scared!"

Rosalie stood up and gave Rob a shove back. "Rob, just leave him, and the rest of us, alone! You're a creep and I don't know why I ever dated you to begin with!"

"Oh you're asking for it bitch…" Rob snarled and got right into her face. "You can't hide behind Daddy forever. I'll find you one of these…" He never finished his threat as Phoenix came in from the side with a quick smack to the side of his head.

"Take the hint and get lost, dumbass," Phoenix spat, getting between Rosalie and Rob.

The side of his face turning a bright red where Phoenix had hit him, Rob took a swing at his opponent. By now a crowd had gathered and was chanting "Fight, fight, fight…"

Phoenix and Rob began what looked to be a choreographed dance routine – Rob aimed a kick at Phoenix, who rolled to the left to avoid before throwing a punch into Rob's stomach, who doubled over with a grunt.

Just as the principle was showing up to break things up. Phoenix's last kick connected to Rob's face with a CRACK. Rob cried out in pain and dropped, his nose broken and bleeding. "You bastard!" Rob yelled, his voice distorted from the blood and broken bone. "You bastard!"

The principle grabbed Phoenix and dragged him off. Rosalie simply sat back down, stunned. "You okay Rose?" Tony asked, looking at her.

"Hm?" she asked, lost in her own thoughts for a few seconds. "Oh yeah… I'm fine." The bell rang. "Time to go to next class."

The cafeteria began dispersing towards their next class. Rosalie walked on quietly, passing people lost in deep though as to what just happened.

-

A/N: I shall leave it here for now. Hope you guys enjoy! Review with your thoughts so far! Thanks

Dash


	3. The Seeds of Friendship Sewn

Teen Titans

New Kids On The Block

Chapter 3

The Seeds of Friendship Sewn

Phoenix didn't return to the group of his new friends until well into the lunch hour. He didn't look to be too bothered but Rosalie immediately ran up to him. "Man, where have you been? What happened?"

Phoenix shrugged. "They called my dad in for a talk. Had to explain my side of the story, blah blah blah." He waved his hand and rolled his eyes. "Great way to start my high school career at Jump City." He sat down at the table and pulled his lunch out of his backpack with a grunt.

"Well I'd say it was a pretty good way to start things off," Tony put in from across the table, and held out a bro fist. "Anyone who can get a shot in at Rob and live to tell the tale is all right in my books."

Phoenix smiled and accepted the fist. "Thanks man… Tony was it?" Tony nodded. "Good, I'm horrible with names," Phoenix said with a laugh. He reached down into his bag and pulled out the small sub he'd thrown together the night before, taking a huge chunk out of it hungrily.

The crew spent much of the lunch hour becoming better acquainted with their new friend, asking him questions about his old friends, his tastes in music, his family. The bell rang and Phoenix glanced down at his schedule. Gym class last period. "Oh joy," he said sarcastically as he wolfed down what was left of his bag of chips. "Gym class."

"Gets even better – me and Rose are in your class," Tony said with a grin. "We got your back man. Don't worry about it. Coach Hunter may come off as a hard ass, but he's alright. Just do your best, and let HIM see that, and you'll be fine. First day is usually dodge ball anyways. Easy class." He rose, grabbing his bag and slapping Phoenix on the shoulder as he walked over to him. "10 bucks says you can't hit Rose if you're on opposite teams."

Rose glanced at her friend with a bemused expression. "Really Tony? Setting him up for failure already?"

"You saying I can't do it?" Phoenix challenged, raising an eyebrow.

"You're right – that's what I'm saying. No one has EVER been able to hit me in a game of dodge ball, and I'm not about to let it start now."

Phoenix grinned. "First time for everything. You're on, Stone." He held out a hand, which Tony shook, binding the contract.

"Try not to cry when she takes you out – it just adds to the fun for her," Mary called as she, Chad and Elisa walked off towards their PDR class. Elisa chuckled and shook her head as she whispered to her friends, "He is toast."

Upon entering the male locker room, Phoenix was greeted by a host of unfamiliar faces, all of which carried a "We don't want you here" type of glare on their face. Especially a certain football player. "Back for more, eh Spitfire?" Rob called from the back, abs clearly visible through his tight shirt, voice still distorted from the recently broken nose. "Round one wasn't enough for you?"

"From the looks of it, he's the one who should be asking YOU that," Tony retorted as he stripped his shirt off and began changing. "He's barely got a scratch on him – you got a broken nose and a couple other bruises." This caused the locker room to hiss with quiet laughter.

Rob's face turned as red as his gym shorts. "SHUT UP!" he snapped, causing everyone to fall silent. He stalked up to Phoenix and pointed a finger into his face. "This isn't over punk… not by a long shot." With that, he shoved past Phoenix and yanked the door open, heading into the gym.

The locker room became really quiet after that. Phoenix quickly changed, got out and headed onto the court to begin warming up. He met up with Rosalie as she was exiting the girl's locker room, tying off her hair into a ponytail. "Man, what was going on in there? We could hear the hissing from across the hall!" she asked as they walked into the gym together.

"Oh, Rob's just being a sore loser," he responded. He noticed a rack of basketballs and immediately gravitated to it. The basketball was like clay under his fingers, bouncing to the floor and smoothly back up before getting pushed back down by his wrist into a controlled dribble. Moving up and down the half court, he took a shot at the far net. The ball sailed through the air cleanly before swooshing through the net and bouncing off the polished hardwood flooring.

Moving to retrieve his ball, Phoenix noticed the gym teacher watched with growing interest after each shot. A nice clean arc, into the net with a swish and to the floor with a triplet bounce. He was just moving to retrieve the ball when the coach approached him. "That's quite the shot you've got there, son."

Phoenix gave the man a small smile. "Thanks." He continued to shoot as if the man wasn't even there.

"We've got basketball tryouts coming up in a couple weeks. Any chance I'll be seeing you there?" Coach Hunter asked, his gray eyes still following the arc of the ball – this time as it rolled around the rim and fell to the floor. "We could use an arm like that."

"I'll think about it," the youth replied with a saddened grunt as he missed the shot.

The teacher shrugged, moved away from Phoenix and blew his whistle loudly. "Alright everyone! Park your butts on the bleachers. Class outline time!" He moved into his office to grab some papers while the teens began taking seats along the bleachers.

As with every other class thus far that day, the teacher explained the basic outcomes for the course, how the assignments would be graded, what percentages would be assigned to which portion of things, and gave some forms to be signed by the parents and returned.

And sure enough, as Tony predicted, the coach glanced at the clock before saying, "Last twenty minutes is…"

"DODGEBALL!" the returning students roared collectively before hopping off the bleachers and lining up for the schoolyard pick.

"Spitfire!" Coach Hunter called. "You're Captain One." This was met with a quiet murmuring amongst the students, followed by a few disapproving glances. He quickly glanced around. "Stone, captain two!"

Phoenix groaned inwardly; now he was sure to be up against Rose… unless he won the rock-paper-scissors for first pick. He was on unfamiliar territory as it was, being the new kid in town and not knowing anyone, AND he was up against someone who was supposedly one of the best dodgeball players in the class.

"Good luck buddy," Tony said as he crushed Phoenix's scissors with a rock. "You're gonna need it." He grinned and called, "Grayson." Rose winked at Phoenix as she jogged to Tony's side of the gym.

"Um…" Phoenix struggled to remember names from role call. "Mason?" he questioned, pointing to a tall, lanky teen in the front. The boy nodded and stood alongside his captain.

The rest of the students quickly were chosen… and to make today worse, Phoenix got stuck with getting last pick. Which happened to be Rob. "You're gonna die Spitfire… just wait for it," Rob whispered as he walked past to join a few of his pals.

"GAME ON!" Coach hollered.

Before long, balls were flying every which way, people were falling to the floor left, right and center. Phoenix smiled inwardly when Rob took a ball to the knee, and smiled even bigger when he saw the thrower was Tony. His new friend gave him a quick thumbs up before chasing after another ball to throw.

Just as Phoenix was about to grab a ball rolling past him, he saw a blur coming at him out of his peripheral vision. Quickly rolling to the side, the dodgeball sailed past him by mere centimeters, causing Rose to grimace. He'd managed to avoid every ball she'd thrown the entire game by what seemed like chance. _Come on Grayson, get your head in the game_, she berated herself as she knelt to grab another ball. _You're not gonna let the cute new guy psyche you out… Wait, what?_ She stopped for a second and tried to analyze what just went through her brain.

It was that one second that Phoenix needed to act. With a quick flick of his wrist, the ball sailed through the air and connected with a soft thump into Rose's left knee. The whole room literally went silent. The Queen of Dodgeball had just been dethroned.

The bell rang loudly, causing a few people to jump from the silence that had preceded it. "Alright everyone! Go get changed and I'll see you third period Friday! BRING A CHANGE OF CLOTHES!" Coach hollered to a few passing students who were walking by in their jeans and hoodies.

Tony came over to Phoenix as they were changing to go home. "Man, you are literally the luckiest guy I know." He did a quick glance around before continuing. "Today alone you have beaten up the school's leading asshole AND dethroned the Queen of Dodgeball." He finished shrugging into his t-shirt and reached into his jeans pocket for his wallet. "I owe you $10." He pulled a crisp bill out and handed it to Phoenix. "A bet is a bet."

Phoenix smiled but waved off the money. "Nah, don't worry about it man. I didn't enter that bet expecting to win, nor did I assume there would actually be monetary gain." He pulled his shirt back on and quickly did up his belt. "Hey listen… I know this may be a bit forward, but you doing anything major after school?" Phoenix asked as they were gathering up their bags and heading for the door. "Maybe we could hang at my place or something… play some video games, shoot some basketball?"

Tony grinned as he tucked the cash back into his wallet. "Yeah man, that'd be cool." His grin disappeared as they exited the locker room to find Rose waiting for them, her hands on her hips. "That on the other hand… is not cool. Your problem bro. I'll be out back in the student parking lot if you survive." With that, he disappeared out the side door.

"So Mr. Big Shot," Rose said with a deathly serious face. "Care to explain how you got so lucky back there?"

"I… um…" Phoenix stammered, trying desperately to avoid eye contact at all costs.

"That was literally… the most amazing display of dodgeball skill that I have ever SEEN!" She playfully smacked him in the shoulder. "You are the first person in over 11 years of school to beat me in a game." Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she shoved him towards the parking lot. "Let's go get Tony and grab a pizza to celebrate."

"You serious? You're not mad?" Phoenix asked as he fell into step beside her, gracefully recovering from a near trip due to her shove. "Seems to me you're pretty hardcore about your dodgeball." The door to the school clanked shut behind them as they walked to his Civic.

She grinned at him as they reached Tony, who was standing next to a blue Cavalier, Elisa sitting in the front seat. "Mad? Nah, not at all, but as Tony can attest, I just give 110 percent into everything." She tossed her backpack into the back seat of Phoenix's car and leaned against the frame, tossing her now loose hair over her shoulder. "You guys up for pizza?"

Tony nodded eagerly. "Meat lovers all day baby! Aww yeah!" He glanced at Phoenix. "Your offer for hanging at your pad still stand? We can order in."

Phoenix shrugged. "Sounds good to me. Just follow me and we'll crash the pad." He started the Civic and with Tony and Elisa in tow, they headed off to the Spitfire home. Both his parent's cars were gone, so they had the run of the joint.

"Phone is on the wall in the kitchen, take off your shoes at the door and we'll be crashing in my room upstairs," Phoenix directed once they had arrived and unlocked the door. Tony headed to the kitchen to order the pizza while Phoenix, Elisa and Rose went upstairs to crash.

"Dude, your room is totally off the hook!" Elisa said as she walked in. Phoenix grinned. He had the biggest bedroom in the house, and was quite proud of how he had organized it. His bed was tucked against the left wall by the closet, which he had converted into a computer area, while the drum set was against the back wall, with various guitar and bass amplifiers lined up facing each other on opposing walls. His black Stratocaster hung next to a white Les Paul Custom, and his blonde Schechter Stiletto 5 string bass was displayed proudly across the way.

He noticed Elisa eyeing the Schechter. "Go ahead and try it if you want. Cords are all hooked up and ready to go on the amp." He grabbed his Strat from the wall, plugged into his amplifier and let loose with the introduction riff to Metallica's _Master of Puppets_. She grinned back at him, the bass locking into the guitar work almost immediately.

Rose glanced at the Les Paul and Phoenix nodded once, the riffs still chugging along. Soon, the three were jamming together as if they had played together for years. Tony finally arrived, a pizza in hand.

"Now who said y'all could start the jamming without me?" Tony asked, plunking the pizza down on the computer desk and immediately hopping behind the drum set. "Kick it!"

Phoenix thought for a minute before slamming into Pantera's _Cowboys From Hell_. The drums laid down a solid groove while the two guitars swirled overtop the bass. Before long, the pizza lay cold and forgotten, and the sun was sinking ever lower in the sky.


End file.
